Ecole d'Ingénieurs de PURPAN

BACKGROUND: Psychological factors have long been implicated in the aetiology of irritable bowel syndrome often associated with abdominal pain. This work was designed to study, in rats, the influence of partial restraint stress on the abdominal cramps induced by rectal distension and to determine the role of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) and mast cells degranulation in this response. METHODS: Abdominal contractions were electromyographically recorded. Thirty minutes after stress or intracerebroventricular CRF, rectal distension was performed by inflation of a balloon (0.4-1.2 mL). alpha-helical CRF9-41 or doxantrazole were administered centrally (15 min) and intraperitoneally (30 min), respectively, before stress. Histamine release and the number of mast cells were determined in colonic pieces from stressed and control rats. RESULTS: Stress and CRF enhanced the number of abdominal cramps evoked by rectal distension without affecting rectal compliance. alpha-helical CRF9-41 and doxantrazole antagonized the stress and CRF-induced enhancement of abdominal cramps. Stress increased the colonic histamine content whereas the number of colonic mast cells was unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: Stress enhances abdominal contractions in response to rectal distension in rats via pathways involving central CRF and intestinal mast cells.

With the aim of wood production with negligible negative effects on biodiversity and ecosystem processes, a silvicultural practice of selective logging with natural regeneration has been implemented in European beech forests (Fagus sylvatica) during the last decades. Despite this near-to-nature strategy, species richness of various taxa is lower in these forests than in unmanaged forests. To develop guidelines to minimize the fundamental weaknesses in the current practice, we linked functional traits of saproxylic beetle species to ecosystem characteristics. We used continental-scale data from 8 European countries and regional-scale data from a large forest in southern Germany and forest-stand variables that represented a gradient of intensity of forest use to evaluate the effect of current near-to-nature management strategies on the functional diversity of saproxylic beetles. Forest-stand variables did not have a statistically significant effect on overall functional diversity, but they did significantly affect community mean and diversity of single functional traits. As the amount of dead wood increased the composition of assemblages shifted toward dominance of larger species and species preferring dead wood of large diameter and in advanced stages of decay. The mean amount of dead wood across plots in which most species occurred was from 20 to 60 m(3) /ha. Species occurring in plots with mean dead wood >60 m(3) /ha were consistently those inhabiting dead wood of large diameter and in advanced stages of decay. On the basis of our results, to make current wood-production practices in beech forests throughout Europe more conservation oriented (i.e., promoting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning), we recommend increasing the amount of dead wood to >20 m(3) /ha; not removing dead wood of large diameter (50 cm) and allowing more dead wood in advanced stages of decomposition to develop; and designating strict forest reserves, with their exceptionally high amounts of dead wood, that would serve as refuges for and sources of saproxylic habitat specialists.

Flavescence dorée is a grapevine disease affecting European vineyards which has severe economic consequences and containing its spread is therefore considered as a major challenge for viticulture. Flavescence dorée is subject to mandatory pest control including removal of the infected vines and, in this context, automatic detection of Flavescence dorée symptomatic vines by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing could constitute a key diagnosis instrument for growers. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of discriminating the Flavescence dorée symptoms in red and white cultivars from healthy vine vegetation using UAV multispectral imagery. Exhaustive ground truth data and UAV multispectral imagery (visible and near-infrared domain) have been acquired in September 2015 over four selected vineyards in Southwest France. Spectral signatures of healthy and symptomatic plants were studied with a set of 20 variables computed from the UAV images (spectral bands, vegetation indices and biophysical parameters) using univariate and multivariate classification approaches. Best results were achieved with red cultivars (both using univariate and multivariate approaches). For white cultivars, results were not satisfactory either for the univariate or the multivariate. Nevertheless, external accuracy assessment show that despite problems of Flavescence dorée and healthy pixel misclassification, an operational Flavescence dorée mapping technique using UAV-based imagery can still be proposed.

hydrophobic behavior (especially through the K OW parameter), adsorption to soils and biodegradation. A lack of QSAR was observed to estimate desorption or potential of transfer to water. Among the 686 molecular descriptors, five were found to be dominant in the 790 collected equations and the most generic ones: four quantumchemical descriptors, the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital (E HOMO ) and the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (E LUMO ), polarizability () and dipole moment (), and one constitutional descriptor, the molecular weight. Keeping in mind that the combination of descriptors belonging to different categories (constitutional, topological, quantum-chemical) led to improve QSAR performances, these descriptors should be considered for the development of new QSAR, for further predictions of environmental parameters. This review also allows finding of the relevant QSAR equations to predict the fate of a wide diversity of compounds in the environment.

Soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seed isoflavone concentration has been shown to be highly dependent on environmental conditions, but isoflavone concentrations have not been studied under controlled conditions to quantify the effects of specific factors. To determine the effect of air temperature and soil moisture status during soybean seed development on seed isoflavone concentration and composition, soybean plants were grown in the greenhouse under intermediate (18/28°C), 9.5 h night/14.5 h daytime temperatures with high soil moisture conditions. Beginning at the R6 growth stage plants were subjected to either intermediate (18/28°C), low (13/23°C), or high (23/33°C) 9.5 h night/14.5 h daytime temperatures with either low or high soil moisture conditions. Two French cultivars, Imari and Queen, and three U.S. cultivars, Dwight, Jack and Loda, all in maturity group II were studied. The overall results show that low temperatures and high soil moisture conditions produced the highest seed isoflavone concentrations with changes in temperature having the larger effect. The changes in daidzein and genistein concentrations were similar to changes in total isoflavones but the glycitein concentration was much less affected. The three U.S. cultivars were much less responsive to soil moisture than the two French cultivars. All five cultivars showed a two‐ to threefold increase in total isoflavone concentrations at the low temperature regime compared to the high temperature regime. Plant height was greatest under the intermediate temperatures; whereas, low temperatures and low soil moisture hastened maturity. Seed size was not significantly affected by any treatment. Soil moisture and air temperature have clear effects on the isoflavone concentrations in mature soybean seeds, but the ranking of all the cultivars based on average isoflavone concentration remained the same with all treatments. Environmental factors can have a large effect on isoflavone concentration, but the potential for isoflavone production is largely under genetic control.

Humans require multiple services from ecosystems, but it is largely unknown whether trade-offs between ecosystem functions prevent the realisation of high ecosystem multifunctionality across spatial scales. Here, we combined a comprehensive dataset (28 ecosystem functions measured on 209 forest plots) with a forest inventory dataset (105,316 plots) to extrapolate and map relationships between various ecosystem multifunctionality measures across Europe. These multifunctionality measures reflected different management objectives, related to timber production, climate regulation and biodiversity conservation/recreation. We found that trade-offs among them were rare across Europe, at both local and continental scales. This suggests a high potential for 'win-win' forest management strategies, where overall multifunctionality is maximised. However, across sites, multifunctionality was on average 45.8-49.8% below maximum levels and not necessarily highest in protected areas. Therefore, using one of the most comprehensive assessments so far, our study suggests a high but largely unrealised potential for management to promote multifunctional forests.

Among grapevine diseases affecting European vineyards, Flavescence dorée (FD) and Grapevine Trunk Diseases (GTD) are considered the most relevant challenges for viticulture because of the damage they cause to vineyards. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) multispectral imagery could be a powerful tool for the automatic detection of symptomatic vines. However, one major difficulty is to discriminate different kinds of diseases leading to similar leaves discoloration as it is the case with FD and GTD for red vine cultivars. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the potentiality of UAV multispectral imagery to separate: symptomatic vines including FD and GTD (Esca and black dead arm) from asymptomatic vines (Case 1) and FD vines from GTD ones (Case 2). The study sites are localized in the Gaillac and Minervois wine production regions (south of France). A set of seven vineyards covering five different red cultivars was studied. Field work was carried out between August and September 2016. In total, 218 asymptomatic vines, 502 FD vines and 199 GTD vines were located with a centimetric precision GPS. UAV multispectral images were acquired with a MicaSense RedEdge® sensor and were processed to ultimately obtain surface reflectance mosaics at 0.10 m ground spatial resolution. In this study, the potentiality of 24 variables (5 spectral bands, 15 vegetation indices and 4 biophysical parameters) are tested. The vegetation indices are selected for their potentiality to detect abnormal vegetation behavior in relation to stress or diseases. Among the biophysical parameters selected, three are directly linked to the leaf pigments content (chlorophyll, carotenoid and anthocyanin). The first step consisted in evaluating the performance of the 24 variables to separate symptomatic vine vegetation (FD or/and GTD) from asymptomatic vine vegetation using the performance indicators from the Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) Curve method (i.e., Area Under Curve or AUC, sensibility and specificity). The second step consisted in mapping the symptomatic vines (FD and/or GTD) at the scale of the field using the optimal threshold resulting from the ROC curve. Ultimately, the error between the level of infection predicted by the selected variables (proportion of symptomatic pixels by vine) and observed in the field (proportion of symptomatic leaves by vine) is calculated. The same methodology is applied to the three levels of analysis: by vineyard, by cultivar (Gamay, Fer Servadou) and by berry color (all red cultivars). At the vineyard and cultivar levels, the best variables selected varies. The AUC of the best vegetation indices and biophysical parameters varies from 0.84 to 0.95 for Case 1 and 0.74 to 0.90 for Case 2. At the berry color level, no variable is efficient in discriminating FD vines from GTD ones (Case 2). For Case 1, the best vegetation indices and biophysical parameter are Red Green Index (RGI)/ Green-Red Vegetation Index (GRVI) (based on the green and red spectral bands) and Car (linked to carotenoid content). These variables are more effective in mapping vines with a level of infection greater than 50%. However, at the scale of the field, we observe misclassified pixels linked to the presence of mixed pixels (shade, bare soil, inter-row vegetation and vine vegetation) and other factors of abnormal coloration (e.g., apoplectic vines).

In Europe, the 2003 summer heat wave damaged forested areas. This study aims to compare two approaches of NDVI time series analysis to monitor forest decline. Both methods analyze the trend of vegetation activity from 2000 to 2011. The first method is based on a phenometric related to spring vegetation activity, calculated for each year during the 2000–2011 period. In the second method (BFAST), the trend comes from the decomposition of the NDVI time series into three additive components: trend, seasonal and remainder. The two approaches gave similar results for estimated trends. The main advantage of BFAST is its ability to detect breakpoints in the linear trend. It allowed to highlight here the impact of exceptional events, like 2003 summer drought, on the development of forest stands. In the last part of our study, we implemented a validation based on in situ observations. Health status of silver fir stands was estimated analyzing the trees architecture. Significant relationships were highlighted between the indicator of spring vitality derived from remote sensing images and the observed status of forest stands.

Each year, mycotoxins cause economic losses of several billion US dollars worldwide. Consequently, methods must be developed, for producers and cereal manufacturers, to detect these toxins and to comply with regulations. Chromatographic reference methods are time consuming and costly. Thus, alternative methods such as infrared spectroscopy are being increasingly developed to provide simple, rapid, and nondestructive methods to detect mycotoxins. This article reviews research conducted over the last eight years into the use of near-infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy to monitor mycotoxins in corn, wheat, and barley. More specifically, we focus on the Fusarium species and on the main fusariotoxins of deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and fumonisin B1 and B2. Quantification models are insufficiently precise to satisfy the legal requirements. Sorting models with cutoff levels are the most promising applications.

Several production factors could exacerbate the biological formation of free radicals which, in turn, cause oxidative stress that impair the health, overall performance and meat quality of broiler chickens. Such factors could have a nutritional, pathological, physiological or environmental origin. The modern drive towards intensive commercial poultry production has elevated the exposure risk of broilers to these factors. In contrast, it has been demonstrated in many studies that dietary antioxidants could combat oxidative stress and improve broiler performance as well as meat quality. Interestingly, these efficacy claims have generated much attention from several feed additive companies which has spurred the development of certain commercial antioxidant products available in the global market. Information from recent studies suggests that both natural and synthetic antioxidants can be effective for augmenting broiler performance and meat quality particularly under conditions of oxidative stress. However, legislative restrictions may hinder the inclusion of high amounts of synthetic antioxidants required to achieve potency in oxidative-stressed broilers. The efficacy of dietary antioxidants depends on the age of the birds, dose and duration of supplementation. Moreover, supplementation of individual antioxidants on average seems to offer a better performance improvement than does a combination of antioxidants. Nonetheless, research efforts aimed at finding the right proportion of combining dietary antioxidants will offer tremendous economic benefits especially with the reduced use of costly synthetic vitamin E. This article gives further insights into research areas that could enhance the effective supplementation of antioxidants in broilers.

-adrenergic receptor also triggers such PPARα-dependent responses not only in the liver but also in brown adipose tissue (BAT). Intact PPARα activity in hepatocytes is required for the cross-talk between adipose tissues and the liver during fat mobilization.

Terroir is about the link between wine and its origin. It has long been understood by sensory evaluation that the taste of wine from a given variety can be related to its origins. Specific organoleptic characteristics of wine are influenced by environmental factors such as soil and climate. By deconstructing the effect of measurable soil and climate parameters on grape and wine aroma compounds, the terroir effect on wine typicity can be better understood. Climate influences on vine development and grape ripening are mainly associated with temperature, radiation and rainfall, while soil influences are primarily associated with water availability and nitrogen supply. Significant advances have been made over recent years in understanding wine aromas and their molecular basis and influences of climate and soil on a wide range of molecules responsible for wine aroma expression. This article aims to review these recent research advances to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of how terroir influences wine typicity. The effect of terroir on wine quality and typicity is sometimes considered intangible and difficult to explain on a scientific basis. By combining agronomic, analytical and sensory approaches, however, this review shows that the terroir effect is mediated by measurable factors that can easily be monitored in the vineyard. Assessment of the results compiled by this review allows the suggestion that terroir expression at specific sites might be maximized by choosing appropriate plant material in relation to soil and climate, by acting on manageable parameters like vine water and nitrogen status, or by implementing canopy management to modify microclimate in the bunch zone.

Abstract Aggregate stability indices are correlated with soil erosion rates. Although aggregate stability influences soil erodibility and aggregate breakdown product size distributions, these indices are usually unsatisfactory because of interacting physicochemical considerations affecting infiltration and erosion. We examined the spatial variability in structural and depositional seal composition, and the influence of breakdown fragment size distribution on seal hydraulic resistance and interrill erosion. Two Alfisols, Villamblain clay loam and Blosseville silt loam, were sieved to retain <2.0‐cm aggregates and packed in 0.25‐m 2 soil trays. Soil trays were rained upon for 4 h at 23 mm h −1 . Infiltration, runoff, and subseal pressure head were measured throughout the experiment, and surface roughness and depositional seal area were measured at selected times during the event. Aggregate stability, hydraulic resistance, and fragment size distribution of the seal matrix were also determined. Mean weight diameter (MWD) of aggregates after mechanical breakdown by stirring was greater for Villamblain (1.70 mm) than for Blosseville (0.92 mm) ( r 2 = 0.94, P < 0.001). Blosseville seals had finer fragments than those of Villamblain ( r 2 = 0.82, P < 0.001): fewer than 28% of fragments >1 mm and more than 40% <0.1 mm, compared with 60 and 15% for Villamblain. Depositional seals had finer fragments than structural seals for both soils. For the same runoff rate (15 mm h −1 ), soil loss was greater for Blosseville (2 g m 2 min −1 ) than for Villamblain (0.4 g m 2 min −1 ) since breakdown products were finer and more transportable. Seal hydraulic resistance was correlated ( r 2 = 0.53, P < 0.01) with MWD of seal fragments.

ABSTRACT An online coupling of high‐performance size‐exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) combined with multiangle laser‐light scattering (MALLS) and a reverse‐phase HPLC procedure were used to characterize and reveal the polydispersity of the glutenin polymers of doughs during mixing and resting. Experiments involved doughs prepared from several samples of a common French wheat cultivar (Soissons) differing in total amount of SDS‐unextractable glutenin polymers. During dough mixing, the amounts, size distribution of protein, and glutenin subunit composition within the SDS‐unextractable polymers changed. However, the major changes in SDS‐unextractable glutenin content and size distribution occurred before the peak mixing time (MT) was reached, whereas detectable changes in subunit composition also occurred after the peak MT. Even if sonication, which was used to solubilize the total wheat glutenin, can narrow the glutenin size distribution, HPSEC‐MALLS revealed a close relationship between the SDS solubility of the glutenin polymers and size distribution, confirming a depolymerization and repolymerization hypothesis. During the depolymerization of the SDS‐unextractable polymers, glutenin subunits were released in nonrandom order, which indicated that the polymers have a hierarchical structure. Some HMW glutenin subunits (HMW‐GS), especially 1D×5, were particularly resistant to the depolymerization mechanism. This suggested that the subunit plays a major role in forming the backbone of the SDS‐unextractable polymers, consistent with the potential to form branched structure. These studies suggest that the SDS‐unextrac‐table polymers in flours have a well‐ordered structure that can be modified by dough mixing and resting.

The Radar Vegetation Index (RVI) is a well-established microwave metric of vegetation cover. The index utilizes measured linear scattering intensities from co- and cross-polarization and is normalized to ideally range from 0 to 1, increasing with vegetation cover. At long wavelengths (L-band) microwave scattering does not only contain information coming from vegetation scattering, but also from soil scattering (moisture & roughness) and therefore the standard formulation of RVI needs to be revised. Using global level SMAP L-band radar data, we illustrate that RVI runs up to 1.2, due to the pre-factor in the standard formulation not being adjusted to the scattering mechanisms at these low frequencies. Improvements on the RVI are subsequently proposed to obtain a normalized value range, to remove soil scattering influences as well as to mask out regions with dominant soil scattering at L-band (sparse or no vegetation cover). Two purely vegetation-based RVIs (called RVII and RVIII), are obtained by subtracting a forward modeled, attenuated soil scattering contribution from the measured backscattering intensities. Active and passive microwave information is used jointly to obtain the scattering contribution of the soil, using a physics-based multi-sensor approach; simulations from a particle model for polarimetric vegetation backscattering are utilized to calculate vegetation-based RVI-values without any soil scattering contribution. Results show that, due to the pre-factor in the standard formulation of RVI the index runs up to 1.2, atypical for an index normally ranging between zero and one. Correlation analysis between the improved radar vegetation indices (standard RVI and the indices with potential improvements RVII and RVIII) are used to evaluate the degree of independence of the indices from surface roughness and soil moisture contributions. The improved indices RVII and RVIII show reduced dependence on soil roughness and soil moisture. All RVI-indices examined indicate a coupled correlation to vegetation water content (plant moisture) as well as leaf area index (plant structure) and no single dependency, as often assumed. These results might improve the use of polarimetric radar signatures for mapping global vegetation.

Stress results in activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis and affects illnesses such as neuroinflammatory syndrome. In vivo acute stress (restraint stress) induces gastrointestinal function disturbances through colonic mast cell activation. This study investigated the effect of acute stress in histamine content of colonic mast cells, and the central role of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in this effect. After a restraint stress session colonic segments were isolated and submitted to three protocols: (i) determination of histamine levels by radioimmunoassay (RIA) after incubation with 48/80 compound, (ii) evaluation by histology of mucosal mast cell (MMC) number and (iii) determination of histamine immunoreactivity of MMC. These procedures were conducted (1) in sham or stressed rats, (2) in stressed rats previously treated with intracerebroventricular (I.C.V.) IL-1ra or alpha-helical CRF9-41, (3) in naive rats pretreated with I.C.V. rhIL-1beta or CRF and (4) in rats treated with central IL-1beta and CRF plus alpha-helical CRF and IL-1ra, respectively (cross-antagonism reaction). Acute stress increases histamine content in colonic mast cells, without degranulation. I.C.V. pretreatment with IL-1ra or alpha-helical CRF9-41 blocked stress-induced mast cell histamine content increase. Both I.C.V. rhIL-1beta and CRF injections reproduced the stress-linked changes. I.C.V. treatment with CRF antagonist blocked I.C.V. rhIL-1beta-induced mast cell histamine content increase, whereas central IL-1ra did not affect stress events induced by I.C.V. CRF administration. These results suggest that in rats acute stress increases colonic mast cell histamine content. This effect is mediated by the release in cascade in the brain first of IL-1 and secondly of CRF.

Abstract BACKGROUND: Optimization of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) nutrition of wheat influences the bread‐making quality of grain. This study was conducted to determine whether the application of N and S in winter wheat at anthesis stage during two field trials could influence the absorption and distribution of N and S in grain and flour bread‐making quality RESULTS: The incorporation of 15 N and 34 S tracers in various plant parts (leaves, stems, spikes) was determined by isotopic ratio mass spectrometry coupled with an elemental analyser (EA‐IRMS). The effects of foliar fertilization on percentage of 15 N and 34 S recovery in various plant parts, grain yield, flour protein content, and dough properties were investigated after a combination of treatments: N (urea), S (micronized elemental S) and NS (both urea and micronized elemental S). Nitrogen (70–80%) and S (35–55%) were quickly assimilated during the days following application. Sixty days after application, 42–68% N and 6–12% S were recovered in the grain. When N and S fertilizers were applied simultaneously, N and S recoveries (68% and 12%), N/S ratios (11–14), flour protein content (115 g kg −1 ) and dough strength (310 × 10 −4 J), swelling (21.8 mmH 2 O) and extensibility (96.4 mm) were increased. CONCLUSION: A synergistic effect between the foliar applied N and S fertilizers appears to increase N and S assimilation in grain and may improve bread‐making qualities. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry

Abstract Adjustments in root biomass allocation, root morphology, carboxylate exudation and mycorrhizal symbiosis are well‐known strategies for plants to cope with phosphorus (P) deficiency. Large genotypic variation in these functional traits has been demonstrated within numerous species. Yet, whether these functional traits are coordinated differently among genotypes of a species to enhance P acquisition remains unknown. We characterized 11 root functional traits associated with P acquisition in 20 chickpea genotypes with contrasting amounts of rhizosheath carboxylates, grown in a glasshouse with severely limiting insoluble (10 mg/kg FePO 4 ), moderately limiting soluble (10 mg/kg KH 2 PO 4 ) and adequate (50 mg/kg KH 2 PO 4 ) P supply. Substantial variation was found among genotypes in root functional traits associated with P acquisition. Genotypes with a large amount of carboxylates (HRC) had thinner roots, and a lower root mass fraction and root mass density (RMD), but higher specific root length (SRL) and colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) than genotypes with a small amount of rhizosheath carboxylates. In response to soil P availability, chickpea genotypes showed large plasticity in root biomass allocation, rhizosheath pH, carboxylate amount and colonization by AMF, but a limited response in most root morphological traits (i.e. mean root diameter, RMD and SRL). Shoot P content was strongly correlated with different root functional traits in the three P treatments. Our findings suggest a range of predictable relationships between root functional traits among chickpea genotypes; those with HRC tended to have relatively thinner roots with lower cost of root construction, while allocating more resources to carboxylate exudation and colonization by AMF. The shift in the relationships between shoot P content and root functional traits indicates that root traits and/or trait combinations in chickpea vary in a manner that enhances P acquisition under specific soil P conditions (i.e. P sources/levels). Such knowledge provides valuable information for chickpea genotype breeding and our understanding of evolution of traits with improved root/rhizosphere functioning. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

BACKGROUND: Recent retrospective studies suggest that psychiatric disorders could be a predisposing risk factor for Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC). The aim of the present study was to characterize the prevalence of anxiodepressive disorders (ADD) and chronic psychological stress (CPS) in patients with TTC or acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS AND RESULTS: Between January 2010 and December 2011, 45 consecutive patients with TTC were prospectively screened by systematic interview with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. CPS was systematically recorded. During the same period, 50 patients admitted for ACS with troponin elevation and matched for age and sex were prospectively included as a control group. An acute stressful event within 72 h before presentation was identified in 35 patients (78%) with TTC vs. 9 (18%) with ACS (P<0.001). Thirty-five patients (78%) and 13 (26%) had ADD in the TTC and ACS groups, respectively (P<0.001). CPS was found in 20 patients (44%) and in 9 (18%) with TTC and ACS, respectively (P=0.005). CPS and/or ADD were found in 35 patients (78%) and in 18 (36%) with TTC and ACS, respectively (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: ADD and CPS are common in patients with TTC and more frequent than in patients with ACS. This finding suggests that systemic effects of ADD and CPS could participate in the pathophysiology of TTC.

Because organic systems present complex environmental stress, plant breeders may either target very focused regions for different varieties, or create heterogeneous populations which can then evolve specific adaptation through on-farm cultivation and selection. This often leads to participatory plant breeding (PPB) strategies which take advantage of the specific knowledge of farmers. Participatory selection requires increased commitment and engagement on the part of the farmers and researchers. Projects may begin as researcher initiatives with farmer participation or farmer initiatives with researcher participation and over time evolve into true collaborations. These projects are difficult to plan in advance because by nature they change to respond to the priorities and interests of the collaborators. Projects need to provide relevant information and analysis in a time-frame that is meaningful for farmers, while remaining scientifically rigorous and innovative. This paper presents two specific studies: the first was a researcher-designed experiment that assessed the potential adaptation of landraces to organic systems through on-farm cultivation and farmer selection. The second is a farmer-led plant breeding project to select bread wheat for organic systems in France. Over the course of these two projects, many discussions among farmers, researchers and farmers associations led to the development of methods that fit the objectives of those involved. This type of project is no longer researcher-led or farmer-led but instead an equal collaboration. Results from the two research projects and the strategy developed for an ongoing collaborative plant breeding project are discussed.